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Friday, 30 October 2015

This
half-term has been filled with family walks; and making soup, biscuits and crumble. Plus I've ploughed my way through most of a hard-going, but informative eighteenth century journal and worked on my novel during spare moments. Next week it will be
back to the school run, sourcing bits of costume for Christmas productions, using the art of persuasion to get homework done; and of course my neetsmarketing work.

Over the
years, I’ve been on a few writing retreats and I can’t wait to escape to a cottage
next weekend with my favourite group of writing friends. This time though, my
approach will be different because apart from ensuring there is a substantial supply of Prosecco and crisps, I’ll know what I’m working on before I arrive. On the past couple of retreats, I’ve spent much of the time planning and reading research,
but now my work in progress is progressing at its fastest rate for a while
because I’ve fine-tuned the plot by writing previous drafts.

The finish line for Book 2 is finally approaching, and I want to make the most of two days with zero distraction, where I don’t have to justify time spent writing. This week, my aim is to find a couple of hours every day to write, so it
won’t take long to get into the zone when I arrive (once we’ve consumed the
Prosecco and crisps, of course). So off I go to write...see you in November.

In other news, booking is open for:

The Historical Novel Society Conference in
Oxford, 2-4 September 2016!

View from the Mathematical Institute, Oxford
Photo used with kind permission of Lorna Fergusson

I'm Publicity Officer for the next HNS conference, where keynote speakers include Melvyn Bragg, Fay Weldon, Tracy Chevalier and Kate Williams. The conference will kick off on Friday night with a drinks reception to include a special event with Fay Weldon in conversation with Jo Baker about writing the Big House story. The Saturday night Gala dinner will include a costume pageant, plus historical suspense readings to follow. This is just a hint of what's on that weekend; and you can find out more and book via the website. I'm also the HNS Social Media Manager, and you can follow the HNS on Twitter @histnovsoc, and on Facebook.

About Me

Writer and Freelance Social Media Manager with clients in the world of books. Used to work in the City, as manager to a structured derivatives documentation team. Studied French and Italian at university and lived in Siena, Italy. Writer of historical fiction set in 18thc Venice and English country houses. Short story, The Reminiscence Tea highly commended in Feb 2017 issue of Writers' Forum magazine. Associate Member of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Former Social Media Manager for the Historical Novel Society (Aug 2014- 4 Sept 2016) and Publicity Officer for #HNSOxford16. Find out more via my website: www.neetsmarketing.com